According to Juan Carlos Rivera, general manager of the Peruvian Association of Mango Producers and Exporters (EMPA), up until Week 14 (March 31 to April 6) Peru exported 139,587 tonnes of fresh mango (6,069 containers) and estimates are that the country will export 713 more tonnes (31 containers) by the end of the 2013/2014 campaign (week 16) campaign.
He highlighted that this season's high volumes of mango dispatches, which generated a new record in exports for the product, are explained by several internal and external factors.
Regarding the internal factors, Juan Carlos Rivera attributed the boom in production to the winter weather, which allowed the plants to bloom more and mature, thus increasing performance, the increased frequency of ships in the port of Paita, and the lack of rain during harvest.
With regard to the external factors, he said the markets responded positively to the higher shipments of mango and he highlighted the work of the National Mango Board in the United States.
"The challenge as an industry is to repeat this campaign's success. We had a good quality product, high shipping volumes and very stable prices. Now, growers, packers and exporters must be mentally prepared to repeat what was done in this 2013/2014 campaign," he urged.
Juan Carlos Rivera said APEM was investigating the conditions that made the campaign so good so they can replicate them in the next seasons.
A manual is being prepared
Rivera also reported that, to ensure the quality of the fruit, APEM was developing a Peruvian mango harvest and postharvest manual, which involves the entire chain, from producers, intermediaries, exporters and shipping companies to universities.
"We are consulting professionals that make up the chain to develop a manual and preserve the quality of the mango we had in the last campaign. We already have a draft and the final manual will be published at the beginning of next season (October 2014)," he said.
2014/2015 Campaign
Regarding the next mango season, Rivera said he expected the U.S. Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service to allow the entry of Peruvian mango of up to 800 grams. Currently they only allow the export of mango of up to 650 grams.
In this regard, he said, APHIS hadn't made comments on the studies presented by the National Service of Agrarian Health (SENASA) so they just needed to carry out an administrative process in the U.S. to obtain permission.
He also noted that they were expecting the Ministry of Agriculture of South Korea to accept the SENASA's request to be able to export fresh mangoes to that market.
Source: Agraria.pe